Cell contact/adhesion proteins Lgl and DFak56: tumorigenic and whole-organism vital effects studied in Drosophila.

Drosophila modeling can be effectively used for comprehensive and refined analysis of tumorigenesis, including the discovery of therapeutic anti-cancer drugs and their testing [1]. The Drosophila lgl gene was the first animal tumor suppressor found and the first tumor-associated gene encoding cytoplasmic protein. We compared the gene ontology of two cancer associated cytoplasmic proteins, Lgl and DFak56 (ortholog of human focal adhesion kinase, FAK).

Genome organization and three kinds of heritable changes: general description and stochastic factors (a review).

Due to the increased knowledge of genome architecture, topology, and the mechanisms of hereditary variability, the list of genetic components has grown. This review outlines the general features and principles of genome organization in diverse organisms. The genome codes, stores, and transfers information in both structurally and dynamically.

A three-generation approach in biodemography is based on the developmental profiles and the epigenetics of female gametes.

We suggest that there are three premises underlying the need for biodemographic analyses of three-generations: 1.) To describe the structure of the genome, we need to use (apart from mutations) other kinds of heritable changes such as those mediated by facultative elements (variations) and epigenetic alterations. 2.

Paternal familial twinning: hypothesis and genetic/medical implications.

The phenomenon of paternally dependent familial twinning has been known in human and animal genetics since the 1920s, but still remains without any theoretical explanation and is indeed a neglected field of inquiry. Over the last two decades investigations in reproduction biology have discovered the significant role of multiple paternally dependent errors in fertilization including androgenic triploidy and moles. We suggest the hypothesis that the fathers of twins in the relevant families carry gene variants that increase the probability of dispermy, diplospermy and male pronucleus heterochrony as well as involvement of two male pronuclei in the fertilization of two female meiotic products.